As for Mourad Merzouki, he draws his creative strength from what he learned at the school of circus, which he started attending when he was seven years old, and from martial arts. He was able to put these teachings into practice. They show his signature, his touch that is unique to him.

The Käfig company found its artistic dimension within the fusion of styles. It combines a sense of humor with gravity and flavors its works with the hip hop vocabulary as well as a spirit that is open to other choreographic and artistic languages.

With hip hop dance, the members of the company have, each in their own way, progressively trained themselves and have enriched a vocabulary. From 1996 many training and creation projects developed.

By avoiding all the social stereotypes, the company has managed to assert a unique style that has not denied its origins, and has enabled the hip hop movement to win over audiences whose origins are as diverse as those of the dancers themselves.

The shows remain however entertaining. Their rhythm gives impetus to a colored dance, a dreamlike and sensitive universe that wins the assent of the audience.

Since the foundation of the company in 1996, our energy has been essentially focused on creating new works and booking the company. This is a long-term job that enables the choreographer to claim the creation of a whole performance in each of his works where he finally drags the hip hop movement out of one sole reference--social matters-- and exclusion. His ultimate goal being to find a future for the movement and give it a real artistic dimension!

Born in Lyon in 1973, Mourad Merzouki began practicing martial arts and circus arts as early as a seven-year-old. At the age of fifteen, he encountered hip-hop culture for the first time and through it, he discovered dance.

He quickly decided to develop this form of street art while also experimenting with other choreographic styles, particularly with Maryse Delente, Jean-François Duroure and Josef Nadj.

The wealth of his experiences fed his desire to direct artistic projects, blending hiphop with other disciplines. In 1989 he, along with a group of dancers, created his first company ‘Accrorap’.

In 1994 the company performed Athina during Lyon’s Biennial Dance Festival; it was a triumph that brought street dance to the stage. Merzouki’s travels have led him into unchartered territory, where dance can be a powerful means of communication. In order to develop his own artistic style and sensitivity, Merzouki established his own company, Käfig, in 1996.

In January 2006, Compagnie Käfig began a period of residence at Espace Albert Camus in Bron. The theatre became the venue of the Karavel Festival, created in 2007 under the leadership of Mourad Merzouki. The festival invites some 10 different hip-hop companies and other initiatives to the city.

In parallel, Mourad Merzouki spearheaded the inception of a new center for choreographic creation and development: Pôle Pik opened its doors in Bron in 2009.

In June 2009, Mourad Merzouki was appointed director of the Centre chorégraphique National de Créteil et du Val-de-Marne. He continues to develop his projects there, with an accent on openness to the world.

In 15 years, the choreographer has created 17 shows and his company gives on average 120 performances per year around the world.